Leaning Over
by CoolBeans1221
Summary: The flock, living in clearwater, Florida, meets the elric brothers.
1. Chapter 1

Iggy POV

I was sitting on the couch listening to the sports channel. The Gasman was next to me bouncing up and down on his butt excited. It was bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, score tied, and the count was two and two. I mean ya, I like sports, but it takes a whole different perspective on your life if you can't SEE the game!

_Sigh_ people these days just don't get how difficult the 21st century is for BLIND people. Being bored I stood up, and expertly weaving my way around the room to the hall, up the stairs, seven steps from the landing and a step to the left, I open the door to my room. I linger on the handle. The color of chrome just amazes me. Ya I know I'm like a four year old with shiny things. Shut up!

Fang POV

Hawks are so cool! It's like when I'm on the ground I have to keep everything inside me to keep who I am a secret, but when I'm in the air……… God! I just……Well, for lack of a better word, love it.

Look there's angel. From 4,000 feet up I can still see all of her perfect, blond, bouncy curls. And Totals black, mangy fur… ok it's not mangy but its annoying (if fur can be annoying (that dog sure can)).

A fuzzy thought popped into my head, _Fang! Lunch, now! Max says so. _Not wanting to go, I reluctantly fold my wings a bit and sink gracefully in large circles until I reach the ground.

Iggy POV

I am such good cook! I mean, I made grilled cheese sandwiches without one burn mark on them, where as if Max was cooking would have been the exact opposite. We, being the regularly hungry bird kids that we are, ate four sandwiches a piece and drank two bottles of water… and I was still a little hungry. Then we all made our way to the couches for our daily sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-TV-for-a-few-hours time, and just, you know, relaxed.


	2. Chapter 2

Alphonse POV

Brother and I have been in this world for a year and a half. I don't get why we have to look for jobs now. We have plenty of money from mowing lawns! Sigh but brother doesn't think so. That's why we're out in the big city of Clearwater. I like Florida, there's lots of beaches, and ice cream!

We just went into a grocery store. Brother grabbed two cashier applications, but I don't want to be a cashier, I want to fly planes. Brother says we don't always get what we want so…

Oof! "Ooooooow brother. Why'd you stop?" he had stopped so suddenly that I had run right into him. I looked over his shoulder to see where he was looking but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, just a group of kids walking past…

Max POV

Why was that short kid staring at me?! The flock had just walked into the Publix a few blocks from our house, and these punks had the nerve to stare! Wait! Can you see our wings? Are there any feathers sticking out of our shirts? I take a quick three-second check and we're all good, so why was that kid star- "Max that kid likes you!" Angel informed me. "He thinks you're the most gorgeous thing that he's ever laid eyes on."

I snorted. Wow, that's pathetic. He thinks I'm gorgeous? I wonder if flirting with him would make Fang jealous…

So I winked at the boy as we passed. He could only have been fourteen or fifteen.

Edward POV

Oh my god! She winked! She winked at me! "Brother! What are you looking at?" I elbowed Al to get his hands out of my face. In all of my eighteen years I've never seen anything more beautiful!

"Come on Al, we're going shopping." And, as cliché as it sounds, I followed her, and the five kids with her.

Nudge POV

I was holding the shopping list. So far we had:

Milk Jelly

Eggs Peanut butter

Cereal Apples

Bacon Bananas

Turkey Bread 

Ham Macaroni and cheese 

crans and markers

Wow! I bet I can guess who wanted the crans and markers. Gosh, Angel is so pathetic sometimes! She always gets what she wants cuz max likes her best! I subconsciously clenched my hands and put on my pouty face.

"Hey! I heard that, Nudge!" crap! I forgot that she could read minds! She stuck out her tongue at me. "Yes I can! I can also make you treat me like a princess if I wanted!" she added that last part in a harsh whisper.


	3. Chapter 3

Alphonse POV 

What was brother doing? We didn't have anything in our cart but he kept following that family! Oh well, if he's not paying attention I'll grab some Mac and cheese…… some a box of poptarts. Wait brother doesn't like the strawberry ones. I guess s'mores will do….. Some peanut butter and jelly, I think we have bread at home…. I look up to ask brother if we had bread but couldn't see him or that family.

Iggy POV

I had heard a heavy boot step following us since about the time we walked in here. I wonder if I should tell max. I grabbed the edge of her sleeve and gave a slight tug. She skipped a step to align her body to mine. I whispered quietly, so quietly in fact she might not have heard in the loud mart. "max, there's a man following us, ever since we've walked in." nearly just as quiet, she whispered back," ya I noticed….. Okay it's just a boy. He looks like he-""Max!" Angel interrupted "that boy that likes you is still following us!" "I'm AWARE!" she said. Then her footsteps stopped.

Max POV 

"Okay dude seriously?!" I said stopping and looking at the kid. His long blond bangs were hanging in his eyes. The younger blond boy came skidding out of an isle "found you!" he said then he saw me and his amber eyes widened. "Oh….. I'll go check out brother…." But I signaled to fang to grab him. Fang grabbed hi arm. His Adams apple bobbed.

"What do you guys want?!" I asked sighing. The blond boy spoke, his voice rather deep for a fifteen year old. "My hi name be Eric. No! Elric! No, Edward! My name is Edward." He stuttered looking nervous.

I lifted one eyebrow. "And you are following us because…..?"

He blushed. Angel answered "Cause he likes you max!" The boy blushed even redder.


	4. Chapter 4

Ed POV

Oh my god! How did that little girl know I liked that one? I blew my bangs out of my face stood up to my full five foot five height. She and the two oldest boys had a good five or six inches on me.

"I….. I just…." Alphonse tried unsuccessfully to pull his arm from the dark haired one's grasp but failed. At a loss for words I just stood there looking her in the eyes

Nudge POV

The one with the ponytail is really cute. I thought. Then he spoke "Brother is sorry!" he said "we both are! Now can we go? I think we're attracting an unnecessary crowd in public." I giggled "you mean, Pub_lix_?" Iggy chuckled and put out his hand for a low five "nice" he said

"Max?" I asked "do these guys want to hang out with us." Angel nodded her head "They want to. Definitely" Max looked at angel "fine." She said. See?! She's spoiled! And she just read my mind! Seeing as she just stuck her tongue out.

Fang POV

No! Max must be nuts! This shrimp and his brother can't hang out with us! I bet angel did her mind controlling thing because she wants a new friend to hang out with.

"Okay I'm going to check out." I grabbed the cart from next to Iggy and pulled it toward the closest check out counter. The younger twerp followed me with his cart. I felt in my pocket for the credit card. Crap! I thought. Where is it?!? "Iggy?" he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of plastic. "thanks." I said.

Al POV

The dark one checked out with the blind one. Then I checked out. It cost thirty-six dollars! "Um… brother? Do you have any money? I only have twenty-six dollars."

He sighed and pulled the money out of his pocket. "Thank you!" I said and smiled.

When I looked up again from picking up our groceries, the girl with brown skin was staring at me. She had big brown eyes and hair with so many curls I couldn't count them. She was very pretty, but she looked like she hadn't taken a bath in a while. On second thought, they all looked that way. Odd……


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about the POV thing, if it gets confusing… Um, I'll try to make that easier to understand.

If it says Ed POV Ed is thinking/talking though just to clarify.

Sooooooo….

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Ed POV

When we walked out of Publix, I stood next to Al walking behind the group of kids. We reached their silver minivan and for a moment or two, we just sat staring at each other. I looked at the tall dark one. His face was so impassive. All the people in this world's faces were all so easy to read, then we meet this bunch and all their minds seem to be locked up inside of them not even a glimpse of what they're feeling portrayed on their faces. Except for the middle girl. Her face was slightly easy to read. Maybe, due to the fact, that she was mesmerized by Al. she just sat staring at him, with a small smile on her face. Al hadn't noticed I don't think. He was staring at his shoes scuffing the left one back and forth making a slightly irritating noise. Then the oldest girl spoke.

"So," she said in a tone of voice that I took to mean this-is-all-business-don't-you-dare-mess-with-me. "Who are you? Why were you following us? What do you want? And how come you're so short?" this last question really pissed me off!

Al POV 

Oooh! She did not want to go there with Brother. He has such a short temper I thought. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD FIT THROUGH A STRAW WITHOUT SUCKING IN?!?" Brother was breathing hard, but other than that it was quiet. Then it started. The youngest girl broke out into laughter, then so did the three boys and the brown girl, and then I started to laugh. The only ones who weren't laughing were the oldest boy and Brother.

Gazzy POV

My sides were killing me, but that boy was so funny. Apparently Fang didn't think so but the rest of us did, including the boy's brother. I spoke out, "Max I'm hungry can we go home now?" when the large heaves of max's sides were reduced to just small occasional outbursts of giggles, max said "ya Gazzy, but what about the blondes?" this question wasn't for me, but it was directed at Fang. He unfolded his black clad arms and said, "Hey Max, whatever floats your boat, you're in charge." Then he placed the bags in the car, and climbed in the passenger's side. The little blond girl said with large begging eyes "oh max! Can they please play with us?" max sighed. "Sure, why not." Then she met the oldest boy's eyes. "The question is do you want to play with us?"

Ed POV

Did I? Did I want to hang out with these odd kids? I guess I did, maybe…. But did Al? I looked at him and he nodded slightly. "Sure." And so it was. We climbed into their crowded, hot minivan and drove to their house.


	6. Chapter 6

**To my dear readers,**

**I am so so soooo very sorry for not updating in a very long time. I just thought that my writing wasn't good. Until I checked my email for my fanfiction notices, that is. :D thank you guys for your awesome reviews. I'll try to update more often! I love reading reviews, even ones with constructive criticism. **

**Oh and I'm not doing POVs anymore. It's too complicated. So now it's either going to be in Ed's view, or in 3****rd**** person.**

**Now to the story…..**

In the car, the smallest girl introduced us to everyone. After Al and I learned all their names, I studied them, especially Max, and learned as much about them as possible. Summing up all the info I'd gathered, this was one odd bunch of kids. We pulled up in front of a large house. It was a two story, pale yellow, Victorian style house with many windows. There were tons of trees and plants in front that shadowed the beautiful house and made it look sort of mysterious. The kids started to pile out of the van. The all helped grab groceries, including Alphonse. The smallest girl, Angel, I reminded myself, seemed to float above the ground for a second, but I blinked at her and she kept skipping up the drive like a normal little girl. _Definitely some odd kids. _I thought.

Inside the house, the kids put all the food away. Then they dispersed naturally, Iggy and Gazzy going to sit on the couch, Nudge and Angel took Al up the stairs, which made me a little nervous being by myself, and Max and Fang stayed with me in the kitchen. They both eyed me in the same curious way. I stood up straight and looked Max in the eyes. Her eyes were a pale blue, quite contrasted from Fang's dark brown ones that looked almost purple. We didn't say anything or move for a few minutes. I looked over at Fang and gasped. He looked like he was disappearing! Or… or blending in with the cabinet. Startled by my gasp, he shook himself and then looked normal again.

Max frowned. "Shut your mouth Blondie," she said like nothing abnormal had happened. "You'll catch flies." I closed my mouth. "Um... Uh… can I use the bathroom?" I stuttered. Fang nodded. "Upstairs. First door on the right." I nodded. As soon as I was in the bathroom, I transmuted a pipe through the floor to the kitchen. I knew they'd be talking.

"-do that?" I heard Max whisper harshly. "Now he's going to wonder what the hell is wrong with us!" I heard a banging sound. "We need to get rid of them. If they figure out we're..." I listened harder as her voice got quieter. "if they figure out we have powers or… or _wings_ they'll probably send us to the loony bin…" then I stopped listening and the pipe went away. I sat on the toilet and thought about what I heard. Were these kids some kind of chimera people? I'd never heard of chimeras with powers! I had to tell Al.


	7. Chapter 7

Wanting it to seem like I had actually used the bathroom, I flushed and turned on the sink. Then I walked into the hallway. I listened for Al's voice. I heard girls giggling in a room down the hall. I walked toward the voices and knocked on the door, then opened it. "Alphonse?" I asked.

In the room, the three of them were sitting on the floor. Alphonse's hair was down and had bows in it and there was purple stuff all over his eyes. His lips were covered in bright red. I stood there in shock for a second before I burst out laughing. I doubled over in pain and actually fell to my knees my sides hurt so badly. When I looked back up at the trio, I could hardly see, my eyes were so watery. I wiped them with my glove covered hands. "Alphonse, what… what is ON you?" I said amidst giggles. Alphonse frowned. "Nudge and Angel were making me look pretty, brother." He said. "Oh, you look gorgeous alright!" I said and burst into giggles again. Gazzy and Iggy appeared in the doorway. Gazzy burst into laughter too. "What's going on?" Iggy asked looking left out. "Me and Nudge made Alphonse look pretty!" Angel smiled proudly. Iggy smirked. "Is there lipstick involved?" he asked "yep!" said Nudge "a dress?" Iggy asked breaking into a full smile. "No! We forgot a dress, Ang!" Nudge exclaimed to her partner in crime. I laughed harder at the thought of my brother in a dress.

Now Max and Fang were in the room both smirking, amused. I then remembered why I had come into the room, and my heart beat faster. "Oh… um Al? I think we need to go home." I said, telling him with my eyes that this was important. He frowned. "But brother…." He looked at me while wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He realized by my look that we needed to go, but he was confused. I hadn't noticed, but Angel was staring intently at Max. What I couldn't hear was this;

_Max, Edward knows_

…_knows what?_

_Knows about us! He's thinking about Fang disappearing and us having weird wings connected to our arms!_

_Ok. Thanks Angel. _

I stood and Alphonse and I started toward the door. I went to push past Max, but she slid in front of me. "Going somewhere pretty boy?" she asked towering over me. I looked up at her, scowling. "Yeah. Home." I said. "I don't think so." Now Fang stood next to her menacingly, arms crossed. "You don't look like the type to listen in on conversations, Ed." Max said. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. "What're you talking about?" I asked nervously. I glanced over at Al, who looked scared. All the kids were now standing with arms crossed. Even Angel looked scary. "I know that you know." "You know I know what?" "Don't play stupid, Blondie." Said Fang.

"We know that you know that we're…special." said Max. "Wait, you know that I know that you guys are special?" I asked. Fang grabbed my arm. "Yeah, now stop screwing around!" I gulped. "Ok, ok. What do you guys want from me?" Max looked at Fang. She didn't know how to address the issue. It hadn't been a big deal when random people had noticed something odd about them before… but Max knew there was something different about these kids.

"We can't let you go. We don't know that you won't tell anybody about us." She said. Fang let go of my arm. I shrugged it tenderly. "Why would we do that?" Max looked angry now. "Because we're freaks and nobody likes a freak." She hissed. "Me and Brother aren't normal either." Al said, speaking up for the first time."Really?" Max said to him. "and why's that?" Al looked at me nervously. "We aren't…. from here." "Yeah well neither are we." Said Fang. "No," I said "like… like this world. We come from an alternate world." I said.

Max snorted. "And why should I believe you?" she asked. I clapped my hands and kneeled to touch the floor. There was a blue shock of light, and out of the floor I pulled a doll. It was almost a replica of the doll I made for Winry so many years ago. I turned and handed it to Angel. She gasped and hugged it to her chest. Everyone gaped at me, except Iggy who elbowed Gazzy and he whispered to him what happened.

"That's why." I said. "And maybe because of this, too." I rolled up my sleeve and took off my glove. They all stared amazed at my arm. "Wow." Nudge said. She reached out nervously to touch it. Max cleared her throat, composing herself.

"Well, what you can do probably has no comparison to what we can do." It kind of seemed like she had never met anybody who had talents that exceeded hers. "Yeah? And what_ can _you do?" I asked.


	8. Chapter 8

Max's face fell. She looked like she knew she had said too much. Then her tough face came back. "I don't think it's any of your business, Shrimp." I felt my face heat up, but held back the rant I knew would come out if I didn't bite my tongue. "Hey, I just told you three things nobody else in this world knows!" I hissed. "What's your point? That doesn't mean anything." She jaunted.

"Hey that isn't fair-" "Nobody said life is fair Edward!"Max yelled, interrupting me. The entire room was quiet. "Was it fair that we ended up being what we are? Is it fair that Iggy is blind? Is it fair that none of us have seen our parents since nearly birth? NO! It is NOT fair!" I was shocked at the way she was yelling at me. So I yelled back.

"Yeah, well was it fair that my mom died when I was ten? That my bastard father left us with no explanation? That we had to live by ourselves for years? That I'm missing two of my limbs? That I've been torn away from my home, from my WORLD without choice? Does that seem fair?"

"HEY!" we all turned to look at Nudge and Angel who were holding hands and had tears in their eyes. "Didn't we already agree that life isn't fair?" Nudge asked her voice hoarse. "We don't have to break our own hearts by reminding ourselves of all the crap that we've been through. Yeah our lives suck. Who's life doesn't suck at times? Maybe, no probably, our lives suck way more than most other peoples, but in the end, it isn't our faults. We shouldn't blame each other OR ourselves."

We were all quiet for a while. It was kind of awkward I thought, but we all thought about Nudge's words and how they were pretty much dead on, even out of the mouth of a twelve year old. Iggy wiped his eyes and sniffed. We all looked up at him. "That… now that was beautiful!" he started clapping slowly. Gazzy began to laugh and Angel giggled. "Wow, way to make my dramatic moment a comedy!" Nudge said in sort of a pouty voice. Then we all were at some point of smiling or laughing, including Fang.

Now that the intense moment had broken, we all relaxed a little. Nudge and Angel picked up some of the makeup they'd been playing with, and Al helped them. Gazzy and Iggy started toward the door and Max and Fang leaned against the wall and whispered to each other. I felt awkward standing in the middle of the room by myself, so I walked out of the room, eyeing Max and Fang as I did so. I walked down the stairs and saw Iggy and Gazzy sitting on the couch. I was never really good at making friends. Al was always the friendly one. So I cleared my throat and walked over to the boys. "Hey guys." I said and sat down on the couch closest to where they were. They both nodded but didn't look away from the TV. I knew Iggy couldn't really see it, but it was kind of creepy the way he stared right at the TV with his pale blue eyes.

"Watcha watching?" I asked looking at the game that was going on. I thought it was football, but couldn't tell because I never really paid attention to that sort of thing in this world or my own. "Steelers versus Patriots." Iggy said. I nodded pretending like I knew what he just said. "Um… who do you want to win?" I asked hoping the answer wasn't an obvious and stupid question. "Patriots." Said Gazzy at the same time that Iggy said "Steelers." I looked at them clearly puzzled. I looked at the boys curiously as the man announcing the game started to talk louder and faster and both boys leaned forward in their seats. Then I jumped as Iggy leaped off the couch with his arms raised and gave a shout of triumph, and Gazzy groaned and leaned back on the couch frowning. I smirked at the boys silly amusement in such a dumb sport.

A few more minutes into the game, I had sort of caught on to the gist of the sport and knew the main point. Just when I was getting into it, I heard a yell from upstairs. In no time I was up the stairs and into the room. My jaw dropped. Nudge stood in the middle of the room with wings that spread across the room, each wing tip nearly touching the wall. The wings sprouted from her back and were almost the same color as her skin and faded to a lighter brown the further to the bottom they got. At the very tips the wings were almost white and where it was a light brown the feathers had speckles of darker brown scattered about them. In all truth they were the most beautiful things I had ever seen.


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh…my…God." I said stepping backward. I tore my eyes away from Nudge and her feathery appendages and looked over at Alphonse. His jaw had dropped and was staring at Nudge's wings with impossibly large eyes. He must've screamed out of shock. Max ran into the room. "NUDGE!" she yelled "What the heck are you thinking?" Nudge frowned and her wings fell so they brushed the ground. I wanted to show Al my wings." She said. "Nudge how could you?" Nudge hung her head. "You know how…. You know that…" Max looked at Nudge's sad face and seemed like she couldn't stay mad. She sighed and looked at me and then Al. "Well now you know one thing about us." She said and suddenly looked very tired. "I already k new you guys had wings." I said. Fang looked at me in annoyance. "Yeah well now you know what bird kid wings look like." He said. Al shrugged. "It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I've seen tons of chimeras but these wings are the most wonderful and beautiful and… and horrible things I've ever seen!" he said

Nudge looked up at him and smiled. "You really think so?" she asked and even though her skin was chocolate colored I could see a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. Al nodded. "Of course!" I looked at Max. "Do all your wings look like that?" I asked. "No." said Angel and I looked over at her. "Fang and Iggy's wings are a lot bigger than mine and Gazzy's. Their wingspans are like fourteen feet long!" Fourteen feet! That's insane! "And our wings are all different colors too! You should see Max's! I think hers are the prettiest!" "Angel's right!" said Nudge. "Max's are so beautiful!" Max rolled her eyes. "Guys, you're exaggerating." She said. "No, I agree." Fang mumbled looking at the side of her face since she had her eyes locked on the floor. I felt a sudden pang of jealousy in my stomach. This dude liked her too? Weren't they like family? I mean she was beautiful enough that anybody would be attracted to her, but… I wanted her.

"Can we see all of your wings?" I asked. "Pssh! Not in _this_ room!" said Iggy who was standing in the doorway with Gazzy. "Yeah we'd definitely have to go outside if you wanted to see everyone's wings." Gazzy added. "No, guys we shouldn't…" Max started, but you couldn't hear her over the excited rustle of feathers and whispering. Nudge threw open the window and pinned her wings close to her body as she dove through. As soon as she was free of the enclosed space, she spread her wings wide and was lifted on the wind up higher into the sky. Angel smiled widely at me and Al and repeated Nudge's actions adding some flips and twirls. Soon, Al and I were the only ones left in the room and all six kids were soaring around the house like huge beautiful birds. I looked at Al who was gaping at the window. "C'mon Al. Let's go check out the show." I clapped my hands and jumped out the window, touching the side of the wall as I fell. A pillar of stone caught me and raised me up about thirty feet above the house. Al was soon on his own pillar a few feet away from me, beaming. Gazzy flew over to us first. "Hey guys watch this!" he said and did an amazing series of flips and tricks on the air. Then Angel and Nudge flew over and landed on Al's pillar. "Want to fly with us, Alphonse?" Al's smile spread all the way across his face. "That would be amazing! But… how would you do that?" "Like this!" said Angel grabbing one of his arms while Nudge grabbed the other. They flapped their wings and I could feel the air blowing against me as they pushed off the pillar and flew up and around the house. I watched them as they flew, Al whooping and laughing the whole way. "So, whatcha think?" I spun around and sitting on Al's pillar sat Fang, his wings spread almost fully. They were almost black but in the setting sun they looked like they had shades of blue and purple in them. I shook my head. "It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen." Fang nodded. "Do you ever… do you ever wish that you _didn't_ have wings. Or powers or… or whatever other cool things you can do?" Fang shrugged. I realized that he wasn't really one to talk much. He looked over to where Max, Gazzy, and Iggy were flying almost in the same pattern making strange noises every few seconds.

It was so quiet except for the sound of the wind, and I had almost forgotten that I had asked him a question when he answered, "Sometimes. It gets hard to fit in at schools and with other kids when you have such a huge secret to hide. Especially for the little kids. Max and I don't like them to get too attached to normal kids because friendships like that can't last." He was quiet for a little longer then he said "But we have wings. It's really an indescribable feeling when you're soaring hundreds of feet in the air. You feel so free and… and untamed I guess." Then I knew he was done talking because he stood up and spread his wings. He had his back against the sun and his shadow looked really cool. Even if he did like Max, he was a pretty interesting kid. He couldn't be much older than I was.

There was a loud whistle and all six kids, plus Al, went and landed on the yard below the pillars. I transmuted the pillars back into the wall and jumped to the ground from there. Max shrugged her shoulders as her wings folded themselves back into her shirt, and cleared her throat. "So, now you that you two know… how do we know you aren't going to turn us in to nutzo scientists or the popo?" she asked. "Because we're your friends." Al responded. "Friends keep friend's secrets."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Readers, I suck at updating. Forgive my lateness. Hope you enjoy ;D**

Max didn't know what to think about that. Friends? Other than the flock, Max had no friends.

"You really consider us friends?" Nudge just about shrieked. She blushed, the skin on her dark cheeks had a rouge tint to it, and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Max wondered how far Nudge was going to fall for this kid before she realized she had wings.

Alphonse nodded. "Yes, I do consider you friends, although brother and I don't have very many of those." Max lifted her chin a bit. Maybe they were more alike than she'd thought.

Fang elbowed her and nodded his head toward Ed. He was looking at the ground near his feet. Max could see something on his face, emotion she could tell he wasn't used to wearing.

"Well, you know what a good thing for friends to do together is?" the Gasman asked clapping his hands together. "Eat." There were murmurs of agreement all around, and the group of kids made their way inside.  
Alphonse followed Iggy and Gazzy into the kitchen. "Do you mind if I, er, help cook?" Alphonse asked. He had always liked to cook back home, but never had reason to.

Iggy shrugged, "Sure. Gazzy isn't much help, he eats as much as he cooks!" Gazzy held up his hands, smiling. "What can I say? I'm a growing boy!" Iggy snorted. "You're growing just as fast as the rest of us, Gaz. Al come help me heat up this sauce, while I roll the meatballs."

Al went to help Iggy while Gazzy talked about explosions in the dream he had had the night before.

Nudge and Angel went to play in their room while dinner was being cooked, and the oldest three kids sat in the living room. The room was awkwardly silent.

Ed decided to break the silence. "So, uh, Max. Do you guys, like, go to school and stuff?"

Max raised an eyebrow. "School? Yeah, right. We tried that a couple times. Definitely not by choice. Let's just say, bird kids don't belong in school." she rolled her eyes toward Fang. He snorted, and crossed his arms over his chest. Ed thought it must be a routine position for him.

"Damn right." Fang said. "Nothing good comes from school. Anything we need to know we can teach ourselves."

Ed thought that was probably the most Fang had said yet. "Yeah, Al and I never went to school either. We used to spend lots of time in libraries, though."

Max wrinkled her nose. "Libraries? Ick. No thanks."

Ed's eyes widened. "Really? I would've thought you bird kids were the reading types."

"Well you don't really know much about us." Max said, a sudden defensive edge to her voice that she didn't know had formulated.

Ed looked taken aback. "No, I don't! You don't know much about me either, do you?"

"Never said I did!"

"Never said you didn't!"

The teens were now out of their seats, red-faced with fists clenched.

"Hey, back up, pipsqueak! Suddenly I'm in the mood for a little ass-kicking, and I don't think you want to mess with me."

"Oh, really? Bring it on! Your feathered ass will be on the ground faster than you can say stop!"

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, Shrimpy, before I put my fist there for you!"

Fang, who had been enjoying the argument, spoke up. "Take it outside. I don't wanna clean up this kid's blood." Max and Ed glared at him, before growling and marching out the side door.

"Hey, Al, what's it like where you live? You guys haven't told us much." Gazzy asked Al when he was done with his story.

"Hm?" Al looked up from his soon boiling pot. "Oh, well... Brother and I didn't really live anywhere. We... Our house burnt down. So we roamed. We kind of lived with our neighbors Winry and Granny Pinako, but we only really saw them when Ed, ah, needed help. The rest of the time we looked for... something that might help us. Something that we should never had looked for..."

Al trailed off looking into space, remembering. Iggy cleared his throat. "What did it look like?" he asked quietly. Al blinked, looking at Iggy, taking in his eyes and hands, fiddling with instruments on the counter. "It was.. beautiful. We didn't have the big factories and fast cars. It was mostly natural with lots of trees and hills. We rode the train a lot and I loved looking out at all the wild animals. We'd see cows and horses all the time.

Once, when we were little, part of our, um, training was to live on an island for a whole month! Brother got bit by a fox at one point! We almost ate a rabbit, but brother and I couldn't stand to kill it.

The water was beautiful! The second time we stayed on the island I couldn't go into the water because my..." Alphonse had almost let out something he was sure brother wouldn't want him to tell.

"Well, nevermind. You two don't want to hear me ramble."

Gazzy nodded his head. "Sure we do! Where you live sounds tons better than here! I'd love to go there!"

Al dropped his head. "We don't live there anymore, Gaz. I don't even know when we can even go back."

"Oh, well how come?" Iggy asked.

"There isn't... I mean, I don't know how." Al said. He turned the burner down to low.

"What do you mean, you don't know how? There's tons of ways to get places. Car, Train, Plane, Boat... Wings even!" Gazzy said, counting modes of transportation off on his fingers.

Al shook his head. "I don't think any of those could get me where I want to go." He muttered.

Gazzy looked at him questioningly. "Where do you want o go, Mars?"

Al chuckled. "It's probably just as far."

Max and Ed stood outside, the last traces of the sun leaving pink and blue streaks in the sky.

They glared at each other, both waiting for the other to make a move.

Ed new that as much as this chick pissed him off, he really liked her. Even with her face red and scrunched in anger, her eyes throwing daggers at him, and her teeth bared like a rabid dog's, she still looked quite beautiful.

He sighed. "Max I... I'd really like to punch you right now, but-"

"So do it!" Max interrupted. "Punched me! See how far into the ground I won't throw you!"

"No, Max I-"

"Oh, what, is the little baby shrimpy wimping out? Is he scared of getting hurt by the girly?" She had put her hands on her knees and talked with a mocking baby voice.

Ed clenched his teeth. He was better than this.

"Aw, it's okay Eddy. You don't have to be upset. Just go inside now and play dollies with the other little girls." Max waved him toward the house.

Edward sprang at the girl, but she was just as fast as he was. Her hand jabbed at his chest, stopping him in place. She grabbed his right arm, and attempted to spin him around to pin it behind his back. As strong as this bird girl was, though, his automail arm was stronger.

He ripped his arm out of her grip, and kicked up and around, catching a surprised Max hard in the shoulder. She staggered to the side without falling. A renewed anger spread across her features, and she lunged at him, fingers spread like claws, with inhuman speed.

Edward ducked under her arms and wrapped his fingers around her leg, stopping her from rolling out of the lunge. He yanked her leg over his head, sending her back over him, but her fingers caught his shirt and yanked him with her. They landed awkwardly, Edward half sitting on Max's head, Max sprawled on the ground.

Max rolled out from under him with a grunt. He jumped to his feet and they faced each other, looking like cats ready to spring.

There was a laugh from the house. In the doorway stood Fang and the rest of the flock, accompanied by Alphonse.

` "Don't kill each other!" Gazzy yelled to them, and in a whisper that was heard across the yard to the fighting duo, Angel said, "Yeah or start making out right in front of us." Everyone burst into laughter, except Fang, who's emotionless composure was upset by a look of turmoil.

His eyes sprang back and forth between the two. He knew if Angel had said it, there was some truth behind the words, and there was in fact, attraction between Edward and Max. He shouldered his way back into the house.

Max and Edward's faces turned even redder, from embarrassment mixed with anger. Max blew a large breath out of her mouth and stormed back toward the house, leaving Edward in the yard.

Ed replayed the recent events in his head, thinking about the way Max had regarded him. She didn't look like she liked him. She looked like she wanted to rip off all his remaining limbs...

He hoped that she did like him, but he wouldn't admit it to anyone.

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	11. Chapter 11

Back inside, Everyone sat down at the long table, and served themselves heaping piles of the plentiful spaghetti. I sat as far away from Max as I could. There was bunch of talking and laughing going on, but I didn't participate. I slumped toward the table, my chin in my right hand, the left one holding the fork that shoveled food sloppily into my mouth.

"Brother," Al said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." I muttered through my spaghetti. Al, looking unconvinced, but went back to the conversation he was having with Nudge.

All throughout the dinner I thought about how I could have handled the situation differently. I didn't need to treat her that was. I should've controlled my temper. Sometimes I find myself hating myself more and more...

I looked up, and at the other end of the table I saw Max, looking right at me, all the anger gone from her face. As soon as she saw me looking at her though, she looked down at her plate. I kept my eyes on her, and eventually she looked back up at me. I almost averted my eyes, but held her gaze instead. For a moment she looked sad, then a little angry, then she gave me a small smile. Strangely, I found myself smiling back.

I looked back at my plate, and lost myself in thought again. How had her emotions changed that way so quickly? I wanted to know what was zooming through that genius bird brain of hers.

Fang kept his head angled down at the table, but his eyes were trained on Max through his shaggy bangs. He was jealous. It wasn't very often, maybe once before, that he'd felt this way, but now, it was bad. He wanted to ask Angel if Max had feelings for Edward, but he knew that was an invasion of Max's personal space, and he knew she wouldn't like her brain probed.

She kept looking up at the little squirt. How could she like him? He had thought Max had liked Fang, and Edward was everything that Fang wasn't.

Edward, short, blonde, with anger management problems and a short complex, was absolutely nothing like the tall, black haired, quiet Fang. What did she like in him that Fang didn't have? Did she like blondes? Was that it?

She smiled at Edward. Fang let out a little sigh. She liked him. She totally liked him. Fang had a strong urge to go upstairs and blog about it on his laptop. Knowing he probably wasn't wanted at the dinner table, he did just that. Nobody really noticed. He hadn't expected them to.

Alphonse was falling for Nudge. Almost as hard as she was falling for him. They flirted back and forth trading stories about past fun times. A few minutes ago, Nudge had placed her hand on top of Alphonse's and kept it there. There it sat now, warming his whole arm.

They laughed as Nudge finished a funny story about something Gazzy had done. Nudge went quiet, her dark eyes sparkling. Alphonse followed her lead. Suddenly Nudge leaned forward and pressed her lips to Al's cheek for the slightest second.

Alphonse blinked at her. She looked down at her lap, then up through her thick eyelashes. A big smile spread across Al's face and he brushed his fingers across the warm spot on his face where her lips had touched. Nudge grabbed Angel's hand and literally flew out of the room and up the stairs, Angel in tow.

Al, still smiling, turned to his brother.

Max had tons of confusing conflicting thoughts rushing through her mind. She couldn't decide how she felt about Edward, and if she decided she had feelings for him, what she would do about them. She noticed that Fang was gone. She blinked at his seat, looking for traces of shimmering air where he might be moving.

She reached into the spot where his stomach should have been, but her fingers grasped air. He really had left. How had Max not noticed? She shook her head. This blonde little shrimp was messing with her mind.

Fang lay flat on his back looking up at the ceiling. He had opened up the blog on his computer, set his fingers on the keys, but couldn't make himself type anything. He wanted to share his feelings with his forum, but he also didn't want to express the dark emotions he was experiencing.

Now, he thought about Edward. He wanted the little shrimp gone. Why hadn't he thought about that before? He sat up. He had just as much authority as Max did. If he didn't want the Elric brothers here, they were going to leave.

Fang walked through the hall and down the stairs to the dining room. Nudge and Angel were gone from the table, and Alphonse, Iggy, and Gazzy were playing a video game on the couch.

Max and Edward sat at opposite ends of the table, eyes boring into each other. They were eight feet away from each other and Fang felt that they were having sex right in front of his face.

"Leave." he said, his voice stone cold and full of all the hatred he could muster. Edward looked over to him, confused.

"What?" he asked

"You heard me. I said leave. It's time for you to take your half-pint ass out of here." Fang said pointing to the door.

Ed's face changed from one of shock, to anger. "Fine. Al!" he shouted over his shoulder, "We're leaving!"

"But brother-" Al argued.

"Now!" Ed said. He stood up so abruptly that his chair fell over behind him.

Max stood too. "No, Ed..." her eyes raced back and forth between Fang and Ed. "I don't want you to leave." she whispered. Fang could barely hear her.

"He's leaving." Fang said. Edward turned on his heel and headed toward the exit. Al followed him like a sad puppy.

Edward placed his hand on the doorknob and looked back toward Max. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but decided against it, and walked out of the door, slamming it behind Alphonse.

What was Fang thinking? Max was perplexed. Was he that jealous of Edward? Max knew that she had probably looked like she was interested... She had admitted to herself that she was. But was it so obvious that _everyone_ noticed?

Max walked around the table to where Fang stood motionless, he was already disappearing some, glaring at the door. She grabbed his hand gently.

"Fang... what's going on?" Fang's head swung around to Max so fast that Max thought it looke painful.

"Oh, you don;t know? Well, why don't you go ask your little blonde boyfriend!"

Max's jaw dropped. She had never _ever _seen Fang act this way.

"No, I.. I mean, like, he isn't my boyfriend... I don't even..." with Fang looking at her that way, his almost black eyes full of hurt and sadness, she couldn't lie to him.

"Fang, I love you!" Max said squeezing his hand tighter, he ripped it away. "I do!" she insisted. "I've always loved you, Fang, believe me! I-"

"Oh, I know you used to!" Fang said. "But now? I doubt it."

"Fang we just met! I don't love him! It... it's probably just, like, a crush or something. He's the first guy near our age who knows our secret and accepts it, Fang. Listen to me!"

Fang had turned and was walking back up the stairs. He shook his head but didn't turn.

"No thanks, Max. I'm going to bed." he continued up the stairs.

Max was fuming. She turned and punched the closest thing to her, which happened to be a wall. The wall was hurt more than Max was. A fist sized hole was imprinted in the wall. Max ran toward the kitchen window, a big window with a seat-sill beneath it, They always kept it open in case of emergency flights.

"Fang's in charge!" she yelled as she propelled herself out into the cool night air.

Fang knew he shouldn't have acted that way toward Max. she had told him the truth, and he believed it. He knew that Max hadn't lied to him. There was too much hesitation. If her words were lies they would have flowed out of her full, pink lips smoothly. The truth was harder to tell, and so Fang knew.

Max loved him, but she liked Edward. What if that small "crush" turned into love?

A realization dawned on Fang. This was Max. he could probably control three percent of what Max did consciously, and his chances with her subconscious was probably a tenth of that.

If Max loved Edward then there was nothing Fang could do about it. He decided he would just live and let live. It might hurt him, but it would make Max happy, and that's what really counted.

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	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Look at me! My chapters are longer and i've been updating much more quickly! Cool Beans ;D**

Max wiped the tears leaking from the edges of her eyes. She told herself it was because of the cool air, but she knew differently. What she needed right now was a good flight. She spread her fingers, and the little feathers at the ends of her wings flexed and she slowed to a stop, vertically, beating the air just slow enough to keep her aloft.

Max's eagle-like sight saw everything. She spotted, quite close to the house, next to the side of a road, a blonde head of hair and a red jacket. The urge to go and land near them was tempting. Max shook her head.

She beat her wings faster and faster zooming straight up. The air got colder and colder every second, the temperature and lack of oxygen making it harder for her to breathe. She stopped flapping and let herself coast. After a few seconds, gravity kicked in and she stopped. At the peak of her rise, she took the moment of stillness to look around her. The ground was far away, the blonde head of hair just a pinprick now, barely visible.

Max started falling again, she decided for a straight dive, turning herself head first. She tucked her wings close to her back, her arms pressed to her sides. The cold air burned her eyes and she closed them, loving the feel of free-fall. She smiled, air blowing up her cheeks. She laughed, but the noise tore itself from her mouth, throwing itself behind her.

She pried open her eyes and watched as the earth zoomed toward her. Knowing that if she didn't spread her wings soon, they'd practically be ripped off her back when she sprang them open at the last second, Max slowly eased her wings out. The air caught her feathers, and she gradually slowed down. Max aimed herself for the blonde head of hair.

I leaned up against the bench that Al was now sitting on. We'd have to take a bus all the way back to the city where our tiny one-bedroom apartment was. It wasn't that far, maybe twenty minutes by bus, but I didn't want to walk all that way.

My ports had been pretty sore lately, I think it's because of all the humidity in the air. I rubbed my shoulder port and grimaced. As soon as we had left I had told Al what had happened so he wouldn't ask questions.

He sat on the bench quietly, probably thinking of Nudge. I went and sat next to him.

"Hey, Al. I'm sorry we had to leave like that. It's my fault. I know you really like that girl."

Al sighed, "Yeah, I like Nudge," he said, then looked at me, his gray eyes knowing.

He looked like he was going to say something, but just then, something landed hard on the ground in front of us with a flurry of wings and limbs. It was Max.

"Hello, shrimp." she said, her wings folding behind her. Before Edward could react to her snide comment, she spoke again. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Ed nodded and stood, following her around the bench and over toward a nearby fire hydrant.

She jumped onto the hydrant and balanced on it with grace. She spun to face him, arms spread wide, then crouched. She was a little more than a foot taller than him in this position, so Ed looked up to her.

"I'm sorry." she told him. Her blonde wavy hair fell into her face. "for my behavior and Fang's. I should probably tell you that Fang and I are... well, I love him. He's quite upset with me at the moment, though. See, he thinks I like you, and- well, don't take that the wrong way, I _do_ like you! I mean... okay. How 'bout I start over?"

She looked to Edward who looked confused. Max sighed. "I am SO not a people person..." she muttered to herself.

"Okay, so, after the I'm sorry part, I wanted to say... well. Nah, let's just go with I'm sorry. And how about we be friends?" She held out her hand to Ed. Hesitantly, he grabbed her hand. She shook his forcefully, then let go.

"Catchya later, shrimp." she said and pushed off the hydrant into the air. She flew away, her pale feathers glowing in the moonlight.

I blew out the breath I had been holding. Friends. She wanted to be friends. She'd said she liked me! But she just wanted to be friends. I guess I was okay with being friends. That was better than never seeing each other again, wasn't it?

"Brother!" I heard Al call. I turned around. He waved at me. A red lighted trolley was waiting for us. I jogged over to the trolley and swung myself aboard after Alphonse.

Al and I sat near the middle of the almost empty trolley. The only sounds were those the vehicle was making, so I turned to Al.

"She wants to be friends." I said to him.

Al smiled, "That's good news!" he said. I smiled back. "Maybe we can go back over there later this week, Brother! Nudge gave me her phone number!" he looked excited, and I genuinely was happy for him.

"Way to go, Al." I said, and patted him on the back. Nowadays, there weren't many things that excited the pair of us. Besides the plentiful alley cats that Alphonse loved to feed.

Angel had heard the arguments between Max, Fang, and Edward, and knew all the unspoken thoughts between the three also.

She knew these things, and told Nudge about everything. Sometimes, though she knew she was better than Max, and was far superior intellectually, she needed to let the information she retained out.

Nudge loved the drama anyway. This reminded her of one of her favorite soaps, she had told Angel. She sucked in every detail and squealed at all the juiciness she was hearing.

Angel knew that if any of the three she was dishing about knew that she was telling Nudge what she knew, they'd be spitting mad, but Angel could care less. What could they do to her?

Max had fallen asleep on the couch the night before, swooping through the open window and crashing then and there. Total lay on her feet, keeping her bare toes warm. She rolled over like she always did in the mornings before waking up, and fell to the ground, the air rushing out of her chest.

"Oof!" she sat straight up, pushing her hair out of her face. "That's one hell of a way to wake up..." she murmured.

Max pushed herself to her feet and stretched, her fingers reaching toward the ceiling, her wings pushing themselves against the couch and the entertainment center. She looked out the window over her shoulder and saw that the sun was barely peeking over the treetops.

She flopped back onto the couch, recounting last nights events. She came to the conclusion that she should say something to Fang... something loving and reassuring, but when she tried to form a speech in her mind, no words came to mind. So she made her way up to Fang's room, thankful that he didn't share a room with the other boys.

She edged his door open, and peered inside. Fang appeared to be asleep, well, he didn't appear to be anything really, all Max could see was the impression of his body on the mattress and his head on the pillow.

She tiptoed over to the bed and eased herself next to Fang. She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him close. She buried her face in his back and inhaled deeply. He smelled nice. He always did. Sort of like a mixture of laundry detergent and trees. A nice smell.

Fang moved then. He rolled over, and Max opened her eyes looking into the black holes of his that sucked her in.

He said nothing, but the way he looked at her made Max feel terrible. She didn't do anything wrong she knew, she and Fang had nothing official between them, and yet it still felt as if by having any sort of feelings for Edward she was cheating.

She didn't want to look at his eyes anymore, so she leaned her forehead onto his chest. He reached around and massaged the sensitive spot between her wings.

"I'm sorry" Max said into his shirt. He exhaled through his nose. Max waited for him to say something, but he didn't. She didn't mind, though. She closed her eyes and fell back asleep in his warm embrace.

She didn't hear it, but Fang whispered words he didn't know if he could say to her face into her hair, "I love you, Maximum."


	13. Chapter 13

I couldn't stop thinking about her. About them. My dreams were filled with the bird children. I traced patterns of birds on my thigh constantly. They wouldn't go away.

Finally, I could stand it no more. Alphonse had noticed my restlessness, and wasn't surprised when I instructed him, demanded really, that he call nudge and ask if we could hang out. They were on the phone for a while talking about things I didn't give two shits about while I silently pleaded with him to get on with it. After I could hardly wait longer, he asked if her family would like to hang out.

We arranged to meet at the beach at two. I was so excited that at twelve forty-five I was ready to go with my bathing suit on, lunch packed, and sunscreen lathered.

"Brother," Alphonse groaned. "it takes five minutes to get to the beach! We aren't supposed to be there for another hour!"

So while Al trudged around the house lollygagging and such, I sat on the couch literally counting the minutes and tapping my toes. Right before it was time to leave, Al looked me up and down.

"Brother," he said sounding concerned. "what about your automail?"

I had completely forgotten. Completely. Never in my life had I been so careless. I had gone to extremes to hide this atrocity for years. Wearing layer over layer in the summer, never doing things like going to the beach. And I had forgotten. This bird girl was screwing with my mind.

I decided that if I could forget about the metal limbs for her, and she showed me her wings, I was okay with going out with my automail visible.

We left the apartment. Right away I squinted as the bright sun glinted off my arm. That might be a problem not only for myself but for others.

Al and I crossed the street and walked along the sidewalk, the shore on the other side of a stout wall. The sand, which I had never really taken into account, was made up of tiny white sugar-like grains, much unlike grainy rough sand on the island we trained on.

It occurred to me that sand would get all up in both my limbs, with chance of causing clogs. The more I thought about it, the more I realized there was a reason I hid my automail. People stared. Most of them actually. This world didn't have automail like mine.

The salt water would oxidize the leg. More and more reasons. "Al, I've thought this through, and I think that I want to not go to the beach today... or ever."

Al looked at the arm and leg that were given to me as replacements for the ones I gave away selfishly.

"Okay, brother. Let's go." I could hear the slight pity in his voice. Just then a slightly familiar minivan drove by, honking, faces smushed against the window. Al laughed and waved. I stood there in shock. There was no chance now that the flock had seen my automail that I could go home. Max would probably think I was chickening out.

Fang parked the car and the six of us piled out, all grabbing beach toys and towel bags. I pulled an umbrella and shovel set from the trunk. Fang, silent as ever, slipped up beside me and lightly entwined our fingers, his expressionless face closed off and defensive. I smiled to myself.

Walking toward us across the parking lot, were the Elric brothers. Alphonse lifted an arm and waved, but what the entire flock was focused on was the shining limbs of Edward Elric.

_Shit. _I thought. _Shit shit shit. What the hell was I thinking?_ My face was red and the skin around the metal ports felt hot and tender. I looked anywhere but at Max. A shard of glass on the ground was suddenly very interesting as we stood face to face with the flock.

"Well, ready?" Max asked. I kept my head down, but my eyes locked on her face. She didn't say anything about my automail. Well, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…

We started to walk toward the water. The younger kids, Al included, raced ahead throwing a football around. Iggy, unfamiliar with the setting, walked behind Max, a finger hooked into the beltloop of her shorts. I noticed that all the kids were wearing those shirts that surfers wear when they swim. They had something to hide too, something easier to hide than my metal limbs, but more shocking to be revealed.

About fifty feet away from the water, Max stopped and dropped the stuff she was carrying with a sigh. "How 'bout here?" she asked, obviously not caring what our answers were. She rolled out a big blanket and sat on it, leaving Iggy to stand.

"Ig, do you think you could find your way to the kids?" Fang asked, speaking for the first time today. Iggy nodded and started making his way toward them, walking slowly but surely. I had no doubt whatsoever that he could make it right to them, even in this maze of people.

I felt uncomfortable standing there after Fang sat down next to Max, who was laying on her back, arm over her face. I swallowed. I could be a big boy about this, or chicken out and go play with the little kids in the water.

I sat down.

I heard Iggy walk away, and Fang sit down on my left. Edward still stood near the edge of the blanket awkwardly. I wanted him to sit down. But I didn't want Fang to be any more mad at him then he already was.

I peeked out the under my arm. The boys were looking opposite ways. I sighed. Even in the peaceful times of my life there was warfare.

_Max! _I heard. _Max help me!_

I jumped up and started running. Edward and Fang followed at my heels.

_Angel what is it? What's wrong?_

No response. Shit. I was in the water now, scanning for my babies. A three-sixty view revealed none of them.

"Angel!" I yelled out loud. I was chest deep now. I faintly heard Fang call for her, and Edward for Alphonse.

Before I knew what was going on in my panic, I was underwater, inhaling, which I was pretty sure not something you were supposed to do. The prickling on the side of my neck told me that the gills that occasionally formed there were activated.

My eyes were open, and I blinked a couple of times to clear my vision. I could see perfectly. In front of my face with a huge smile on her face, her blonde waves curling around her head (along with a few small fish I noticed), was Angel. She laughed and bubbles floated out of her mouth toward the surface.

I looked at her sternly. _Not. Funny. _I thought at her angrily. Around me were Fang, giving Angel the same look I was, and Gazzy, his grin equal to his sister's.

Pushed off the sea floor and pushed my head above water. I had to turn a one-eighty to see the shore, and swam that way.

_Tell everyone to meet me by our stuff._ I thought to Angel, who I hoped sent my message along to the other kids.

I reached the blanket and plopped down criss-cross. Angel took pranks too far sometimes. What if she really had been in danger? I would have saved her of course. That's who I am. That's what Max does.

"Alright," Max said to her flock plus Al and I. "Angel, not cool. We haven't had a behavior problem in a while now, so it may be time for me to refresh y'all's memories. 'I'm in danger' memos are _not_ to be sent out unless they are for real. When has that not been the case?" Nobody answered her. "Exactly." She said. "Now we can-"

Max was cut off by a high pitched scream. All members of our party snapped their heads that way. A large group of people was running toward the parking lot.

I saw it a fraction of a second after all the bird kids were on their feet. A giant silver machine was crawling out of the water. It looked like a huge turtle. Climbing out of the top was a group of robots. They were like nothing I'd ever seen before. Well, I had. In dumb movies created by Hollywood, but not like these. No, there were none of these in my world, and they didn't look like they belonged in this one either.

Max groaned. "beginning to be normal!" I heard her mutter. She started running toward the group of robots coming up the beach toward us. After a thirty foot sprint, she pushed off the ground, and unfurled her giant wings. They caught the wind, and she stopped in mid-air, swinging her feet out in front of her. They caught a robot hard under the jaw and his head jerked back. He crumpled to the ground.

The rest of the gang joined Max in the fight against the robots. The beach was clear of any normal people now, and Al and I were the only ones left on the beach other than the fighting mutants.

"Well," I said to Al. "We haven't had any good practice in a while. I'm ready for a good fight."

One of the robots had wandered away from the flurry of metal and wings, for now the bird kids were all in flight, and was starting toward me. I clapped my hands together with a satisfying slap and transmuted my arm into a sharp blade.

I gave the robot a smirk that his technological brain couldn't decipher as almost pure joy and anticipation. I hadn't had a good fight, other than that little tussle with Max, in almost two years.

I rushed at the robot and impaled him directly through the center of its chest.


End file.
